Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

THE spirit of the Wild West lives on in this new full-length animated feature from DreamWorks, the studio behind the Oscar-winning fairy-tale Shrek.

This centres on a brave mustang stallion called Spirit, whose heady days on the frontier are cut short when he is captured by the US Cavalry.

Despite the best efforts of a grizzled Colonel (voiced by James Cromwell) to tame Spirit, the horse refuses to bow to his human captors, and is rescued by Indian brave Little Creek (Daniel Studi).

Free once more, Spirit falls in love with a beautiful paint mare called Rain, but their happiness is threatened, as ever, by the nasty White Man.

Computer animation has become increasingly prolific and popular in recent years, with Shrek, Monsters, Inc. and Ice Age dazzling audiences.

The three nominees for this year's inaugural Best Animated Film Oscar were all created on hard drives - and Spirit is unlikely to buck the trend, despite some luscious hand-drawn visuals and good old-fashioned morals.

Animation in Spirit is top-notch with a couple of brilliant sequences, including a terrifying train wreck and a heart-stopping leap.

But computers are used to add sheen to the more ambitious scenes, which seems a pity for a film that extols the virtues of nature and endurance against adversity.

Unlike many animated animal characters, Spirit and Rain aren't cute and never speak, so the film might appeal to parents as well as children.

Rating PPP